Part 19
2. After its failure the division was assembled at Metz on September 13 and 14. The 19th it was at Mars-la-Tour. From there going through La Haye it reached the Cotes de Meuse. The 7th Infantry took Nonsard the 20th and Heudicourt the 21st. Marching on the left of the 6th Bavarian Division, which went up the hill, the 5th Bavarian Division, walking along the summit, established itself in the forest of Apremont at the beginning of September 25 and held it during the whole of 1915, and, except for the months of October and November, 1915, during the summer of 1916. Its losses were quite high during the first two months of the campaign. On October 14 the 1st Company of the 14th Infantry had only 1 officer and 41 men (notebooks).
1915.
CHAMPAGNE.
1. October 6, 1915, the division was sent to Champagne, via Audun le Roman-Longuyon-Sedan, to relieve the 16th Reserve Division which had been crushed by the French attack of September 25. It was engaged south of Tahure (La Courtine) beginning October 13.
WOEVRE.
2. At the beginning of December it returned to its old sector east of St. Mihiel.
1916.
ARTOIS.
1. In July, 1916, the division was withdrawn from the St. Mihiel salient and sent to Artois. It held the Lens-Vimy sector until the end of August, 1916.
SOMME.
2. September 7 to 8 it was engaged in the Somme (Delville Wood-Ginchy). It suffered heavy losses in the fights around Ginchy and during the British attack of September 15 (Flers, Gueudecourt).
ARTOIS.
3. Relieved September 20, it went back into line after a few days of rest in the sector Neuve-Chapelle, south of the Armentieres road.
1917.
ARTOIS.
1. The division remained on the front south of Armentieres during the whole winter 1916 to 1917. In February it was reduced to three regiments on the transfer of the 14th Infantry to the 16th Bavarian Division, newly organized.
2. It left the lines at the end of April, but at the beginning of May went to the sector north of Arras, where it fought heavily at Fresnoy on May 7 and southeast of Gavrelle on June 28.
BELGIUM.
3. Withdrawn from the Oppy-Gavrelle front July 1 and sent to rest near the Belgian-Dutch front. It went through a period of training at the Brasschaet camp in July.
FLANDERS.
4. About August 6 it entrained and went to Gits, via Lokeren, Ghent, Thielt, and Pitthen. From there it went to Roulers. On August 10 held the sector south of St. Julien, east of Ypres, where it suffered heavy losses in the fighting of August 15 and days following. Relieved August 24.
5. After a period of rest the division went back into line September 8 in the quiet sector of Deulemont (south of the Lys) and held it until the end of February, 1918.
RECRUITING.
Upper and Middle Franconia (3d Bavarian District).
VALUE—1917 ESTIMATE.
Although not among the best Bavarian divisions, it was a good combat unit. In 1917 it did well at Arras and on the Ypres front where it suffered heavy losses (information from the British, February, 1918).
1918.
1. About February 13 the division was relieved, moved to Tourcoing (Feb. 14), and trained in that area until March 17, when it marched to Roubaix. It entrained and moved to Fressies (5 miles north of Cambrai), rested until the 19th, and moved to the front.
BATTLE OF PICARDY.
2. It was engaged east of Cambrai (Vaux-Vrancourt) on March 22. Retiring to second line about April 4, it rested near Sapignies until about April 11, when it was identified southeast of Boyelles. It was relieved by the 111th Division on May 6.
3. The division trained in the Somain area until May 22, when it was moved by trucks via Cantin and Palluel to Ecourt. A day later it marched to Bullecourt and relieved the 221st Division on night of May 24–25. Lieut. Gen. v. Endres, the division commander, was promoted to the command of the 1st Bavarian Corps about this time. The division was relieved in the Boyelles sector on July 15 by the 21st Reserve Division.
BATTLE OF THE SOMME.
4. After resting behind the Arras Front the division entered the line near Lihons on August 10. After suffering heavy losses it withdrew from the battle front south of Peronne on September 24 and retired to the Le Cateau region.
5. It rested for a week and returned to the battle at Rumilly on the night of September 30-October 1. About October 12, after heavy losses, it was withdrawn and rested near Valenciennes.
6. On October 25 it was again put in line at Rameguies-Chin. It was last identified at Mourcourt on November 9.
VALUE—1918 ESTIMATE.
The 5th Bavarian Division was a first-class division. In 1918, it was almost constantly engaged in the most active sectors on the British front.
5th Bavarian Reserve Division.
COMPOSITION.
─────────────┬───────────────────┬───────────────────┬─────────────────── │ 1914 │ 1915 │ 1916 ─────────────┼─────────┬─────────┼─────────┬─────────┼─────────┬───────── │Brigade. │Regiment.│Brigade. │Regiment.│Brigade. │Regiment. ─────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────── Infantry. │9 Bav. │6 Bav. │9 Bav. │6 Bav. │9 Bav. │10 Bav. │ Res. │ Res. │ Res. │ Res. │ Res. │ Res. │ │7 Bav. │ │7 Bav. │ │7 Bav. │ │ Res. │ │ Res. │ │ Res. │11 Bav. │10 Bav. │11 Bav. │10 Bav. │ │3 Bav. │ Res. │ Res. │ Res. │ Res. │ │ Res. │ │13 Bav. │ │13 Bav. │ │12 Bav. │ │ Res. │ │ Res. │ │ Res. │ │ │ │39 Ldw. │ │ │ 1 Bav. Res. Jag. │ 1 Bav. Res. Jag. │ 1 Bav. Res. Jag. │ Btn. │ Btn. │ Btn. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Cavalry. │5 Bav. Res. Cav. │5 Bav. Res. Cav. │ (?) │ Rgt. (3 Sqns.). │ Rgt. │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Artillery. │5 Bav. Res. F. A. │5 Bav. Res. F. A. │5 Bav. Res. F. A. │ Rgt. (6 Btries.).│ Rgt. │ Rgt. (9 Btries.). │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Engineers and│4 Field Co. and 1 │4 Field Co. and 1 │4 Field Co. and 1 Liaisons. │ Res. Co. 2 Bav. │ Res. Co 2 Bav. │ Res. Co. 2 Bav. │ Pion. Btn. │ Pion. Btn. │ Pion. Btn. │ │5 Res. Pont. Engs. │205 Bav. T. M. Co. │ │ │ │ │5 Res. Tel. Detch. │5 Bav. Res. Cable │ │ │ Pont. Engs. │ │ │5 Bav. Res. Tel. │ │ │ Detch. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Medical and │ │ │ Veterinary.│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Transports. │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Odd units. │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Attached. │ │ │ ─────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────
─────────────┬───────────────────┬─────────────────── │ 1917 │ 1918 ─────────────┼─────────┬─────────┼─────────┬───────── │Brigade. │Regiment.│Brigade. │Regiment. ─────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────── Infantry. │11 Bav. │10 Bav. │11 Bav. │7 Bav. │ Res. │ Res. │ Res. │ Res. │ │7 Bav. │ │10 Bav. │ │ Res. │ │ Res. │ │12 Bav. │ │12 Bav. │ │ Res. │ │ Res. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼─────────┴─────────┼─────────┴───────── Cavalry. │ (?) │2 Sqn. 3 Bav. Light │ │ Cav. Rgt. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Artillery. │17 Bav. Art. │17 Bav. Art. │ Command: │ Command: │ 5 Bav. Res. F. A. │ 5 Bav. Res. F. A. │ Rgt. (9 Btries.).│ Rgt. │ │ 17 Bav. Ft. A. │ │ Btn. │ │ 102 Bav. Light Am. │ │ Col. │ │ 104 Bav. Light Am. │ │ Col. │ │ 119 Bav. Light Am. │ │ Col. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Engineers and│(18) Bav. Pion. │18 Bav. Pion. Btn.: Liaisons. │ Btn. │ │ │ │ 2 Bav. Res. Pion. │ 2 Bav. Res. Pion. │ Co. │ Co. │ 19 Bav. Res. Pion │ 19 Bav. Res. Pion. │ Co. │ Co. │ 205 Bav. T. M. Co.│ 205 Bav. T. M. Co. │ │ │ 405 Bav. Tel. │ 8 Bav. Searchlight │ Detch. │ Section. │ │405 Bav. Signal │ │ Command: │ │ 405 Tel Detch. │ │ 103 Wireless │ │ Detch. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Medical and │16 Bav. Ambulance │16 Bav. Ambulance Veterinary.│ Co. │ Co. │46 Bav. Field │46 Bav. Field │ Hospital. │ Hospital. │56 Bav. Field │50 Bav. Field │ Hospital. │ Hospital. │Vet. Hospital. │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Transports. │M. T. Col. │751 Bav. M. T. Col. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Odd units. │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Attached. │ │ ─────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────
HISTORY.
(Third Bavarian District—Upper Palatinate, Upper and Middle Franconia.)
1914.
LORRAINE.
1. The division constituted, with the 5th Bavarian Reserve Division, the 1st Bavarian Reserve Corps, and at the beginning of the war was part of the army of Crown Prince Ruprecht of Bavaria (6th Army). It detrained from August 11 to 13 between Sarreguemines and Sarralbe. It fought August 20 on the left of the 21st Corps at Loudrefeing, was engaged the 26th at Maixe, September 2 at Deuxville, northwest of Luniville, and remained a few days longer behind Luniville.
2. On September 13 it was in line on the Seille and the Paris-Avricourt Railroad and remained there until the last days of the month.
ARTOIS.
3. September 28 and 29 the division entrained at Metz. Detrained the 30th and October 1 at Valenciennes. Engaged north of Arras (Roclincourt- Carency) in October and November and took position in the sector.
1915.
In January, 1915, the division was increased by the 39th Landwehr Infantry (Westphalian), coming from Brussels and sent as punishment to the Artois front. In March and April two of its regiments were transferred, the 6th Reserve to the 10th Bavarian Division, and the 13th to the 11th Bavarian Division.
ARTOIS.
1. May 9, 1915, the division suffered very heavy losses during the French offensive of Carency-Souchez. (The 10th Reserve Infantry lost 35 officers and 1,711 men, the 1st Reserve Bavarian Battalion of Chasseurs lost 13 officers and 750 men.)
2. In the middle of June the division was moved south of the Scarpe in front of Arras (Blangy sector).
1916.
In January, 1916, the 39th Landwehr Infantry went to Russia.
1. The division remained in Artois until August, 1916, and was increased by a regiment from the 1st Bavarian Division (3d Reserve Infantry later replaced by the 12th Reserve Infantry).
SOMME.
2. Relieved about August 7, the division was sent to the Somme and was engaged near Maurepas from the middle of August to September. Heavy losses. August 19 the 2d Battalion of the 10th Reserve Infantry was reduced to 150 men (letter). September 1 the 3d Battalion of the 7th Reserve Infantry borrowed 200 men from the 5th Bavarian Ersatz (letter).
AISNE.
3. In the middle of September the division was sent to the Aisne, where it held a quiet sector east of Craonne until the end of November.
SOMME.
4. About December 9 the division returned to the Somme (south of Saillisel.)
1917.
1. The division was withdrawn from the Somme front at the end of January, 1917, and sent to rest in the vicinity of Cambrai until April.
AISNE.
2. At the beginning of April it was sent east of Laon to the region of St. Erme, and reinforced the front south of Juvincourt between the Miette and the Aisne about April 12 in anticipation of the French offensive. It was subjected to the attack of the 16th and suffered heavy losses (2,000 prisoners).
ST. MIHIEL.
3. Withdrawn from the Aisne front about April 20, the division was reconstituted north of Laon (?), and on May 1 held the St. Mihiel sector (Chauvoncourt-Spada).
4. October 7 it left the region of St. Mihiel.
FLANDERS.
5. Sent to Flanders and sent into line October 12 near the Ypres-Roulers Railroad (Zonnebeke). In November it was left of Artois, where it held, after intervals of relief, a sector north of the Scarpe (from Gavrelle to Acheville). It was still there at the end of February, 1918.
RECRUITING.
3d Bavarian Division (Upper Palatinate, Upper and Middle Franconia).
VALUE—1917 ESTIMATE.
Good division, which has always fought well (October, 1917). April 16, 1917, it fought with great tenacity.
1918.
1. Early in January the division was relieved in its sector north of the Scarpe and went to rest north of Douai.
SCARPE.
2. It was reengaged southeast of Gavrelle on February 21, when it was in line during the attack. It took no prominent part in the offensive and was withdrawn about the 1st of April.
SOMME.
3. On April 7–8 it came in line south of Hebuterne, where it was engaged until April 16. After eight days’ rest it came into line south of the Ayette, relieving the 195th Division on April 24. It was not withdrawn until July 24.
ALSACE.
4. The division moved to Muelhausen, via Belgium and Germany, a trip of 10 days. While at rest there it was frequently alerted in anticipation of an expected Allied attack in that region. On September 4 it returned through Germany and Belgium to Douai, where the British were attacking.
5. It left Douai on September 22, detraining at Dun sur Meuse on September 23. From there the division marched to the front.
MEUSE-ARGONNE.
6. On September 27 it was engaged at Daunevoux. It was engaged throughout the entire Meuse-Argonne battle on the American front. At Montfaucon it was forced back with heavy losses. The division affected relief by regiments, which were sent to close support to be reconstituted by drafts. Five hundred replacements were received early in October. The initial company combat strength averaged 60 men. On November 4 this had been reduced to 20. During the retreat of November 1–2 the division crossed the Meuse and took up a position on the east bank.
VALUE—1918 ESTIMATE.
The 5th Bavarian Reserve Division was rated as a second-class division. Apart from the Meuse-Argonne offensive, it did not see much heavy fighting during the year. Its effectives had been almost completely used up by the time of the armistice.
5th Cavalry Division.
COMPOSITION.[5]
───────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────── │ 1918 ───────────────────────┼───────────────────────┬─────────────────────── │ Brigade. │ Regiment. ───────────────────────┼───────────────────────┼─────────────────────── Cavalry. │9 Cav. │4 Drag. │ │10 Uhlan. │11 Cav. │1 Cuirassier. │ │8 Drag. │12 Cav. │4 Hus. │ │6 Hus. ───────────────────────┼───────────────────────┴─────────────────────── Artillery. │5 Horse Art. Abt. (5.7 cm.). ───────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────── Medical and Veterinary.│643 Ambulance Co. ───────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────── Odd units. │1 M. G. Btry. 5 Cav. Pion. Detch. ───────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────── Attached. │52 Ldw. Inf. Rgt. ───────────────────────┴───────────────────────────────────────────────
Footnote 5:
At the time of its dissolution, July, 1918.
HISTORY.
1918.
There were repeated rumors of the division being on the Western Front in 1918, but no satisfactory identification was ever received.
According to a deserter of the 8th Dragoon Regiment, who left his regiment in Jeumont, south of Binche, on May 20, the entire 5th Cavalry Division entrained in Russia about March 6 and detrained at Zossen, south of Berlin, where it was re-formed and trained. On the 26th of April the division moved to St. Amand, from where it moved two weeks later to the Jeumont and Marpent area.
Evidence points to the dissolution of the division on the Western Front about July, 1918.
VALUE—1918 ESTIMATE.
The division was rated as a fourth-class division.
6th Division.
COMPOSITION.
─────────────┬───────────────────┬───────────────────┬─────────────────── │ 1914 │ 1915 │ 1916 ─────────────┼─────────┬─────────┼─────────┬─────────┼─────────┬───────── │Brigade. │Regiment.│Brigade. │Regiment.│Brigade. │Regiment. ─────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────── Infantry. │11. │20. │11. │20. │12. │20. │ │35 Fus. │ │35 Fus. │ │24. │12. │24. │12. │24. │ │64. │ │64. │ │64. │ │ │ 3 Jag. Btn. │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────┴─────────┼─────────┴───────── Cavalry. │3 Hus. Rgt. (3 │ │3 Hus. Regt. (3 │ Sqns.). │ │ Sqns.). ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Artillery. │6 Brig.: │6 Brig.: │6 Brig.: │ 3 F. A. Rgt. │ 3 F. A. Rgt. │ 3 F. A. Rgt. │ 39 F. A. Rgt. │ 39 F. A. Rgt. │ 39 F. A. Rgt. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Engineers and│ │1 Pion. Btn. No. 3:│1 Pion. Btn. No. 3: Liaisons. │ │ │ │ │ Field Co. 3 Pions.│ 2 Co. 3 Pions. │ │ │ │ │ 6 Pont. Engs. │ 6 T. M. Co. │ │ 6 Tel. Detch. │ 6 Pont. Engs. │ │ │ 6 Tel. Detch. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Medical and │ │ │ Veterinary.│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Transport. │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Attached. │ │ │M. G. Co. to the 12 │ │ │ Brig. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────